Dreams
by Beacon
Summary: AU Raven had long forgotten what it is like to be touched by another human, forgotten how it was to step outside and taste fresh air, forgotten what is was like to be cared for, until he came. RAEBB
1. Chapter 1

AN: I had this idea last night, as I lay awake and resisted sleep as long as possible. Hehe, the mind does weird things at night. Also, Garfield might seem kind of well, I suppose mean or uncaring here, but he will change, that is the point of the story. So I hope you all enjoy the first chapter of _Dreams._

Meeting

Garfield dragged his feet as he walked towards the large iron gates that separated the large, clean yard and large, white building from the parking lot and street. Garfield came to a stop and sighed, gazing through the gates at the beautiful yard inside; rose gardens and paths set with benches and trees filled the area, but no matter how nice or beautiful it was, it didn't change the fact of what this place was. This was an asylum, housing the crazy and unstable people of Jump City, and Garfield Logan was about to start his new job there.

Reaching out hesitantly, he pushed the doorbell and waited. "Hello?" a voice rang back through the speaker at the entrance, important and harsh.

"Yeah, uh, hi. My name is Garfield Logan, I'm here to do community service?" he spoke back into the speaker and waited, fidgeting. His advisor had recently told him that he was way behind on his community service and would need to do about eight weeks of it before he could even begin catching up with everyone else.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Logan, please come in." The voice rang back briskly and the gates began to swing open, waiting for him to enter.

Sighing, Garfield walked forward and headed up towards the large building. He had told his teacher that he wanted to work at an animal shelter to make it up, but instead he had been assigned here, the Jump City Mental Health Home. It wasn't really; okay it was his fault that he was more interested in video games then doing community service like the rest of his class had been doing for a long time. But shouldn't he at least be able to choose what he wanted to do with the time he was sacrificing? He kicked a pebble in annoyance as he trudged up the gravel path. Reaching the door, he sighed once more before he entered.

It wasn't that bad, he reasoned with himself. It looked kind of like a doctor's waiting room, lots of chairs, a few TVs and magazines for entertainment. At a desk against the far wall a woman sat at a computer typing, occasionally glancing down at some files next to her. She glanced up as Garfield came in.

"You must be Garfield." Her pink eye's studied him for a moment. "Welcome to our humble home." She gave a course laugh as she stood and extended her hand. "My name is Jinx." There was something about her that reminded Gar of a cat, maybe it was the way her hair was held in the two pigtails. He liked cats. "So, community service, huh? Well buddy, don't expect to get more hours then you put in, around here, we don't give extra credit, what you do is what you do, if you don't work for an hour, and just goof off, don't expect to see that hour in your time." But not this cat.

"So, uh, what am I supposed to do here?" He asked as he shifted from foot to foot. Besides Jinx, there was no one around, he hadn't seen anyone else, outside or in.

"You'll be looking after some of our patients, the ones who need a little extra attention. Your job is to keep them happy and comfortable. How does that sound?"

Garfield shrugged. "Reasonable." Jinx nodded before gesturing to a chair. One of our nurses will be right out to show you around, in the meantime," She sifted through he pile of folders and thrust a couple of them at him. "On the index cards, write down the persons name, aliments and medication." Garfield flipped open one of the folders to find a blank index card and a information stabled to the folder. Sighing, he began to work. 'Mr. Joe Light, suffers from obsession…" before he could get any farther, a door swung open and a girl slightly older then Garfield slipped in, her long red hair tied up into ponytail and her green eye's focused on another portfolio.

"Kori, there you are." Jinx snapped without looking up from her computer. The nurse looked up and immediately spotted Garfield.

"You must be Garfield Logan." She grinned as she closed the folder. "It is most wonderful to meet you!" she offered her hand for Garfield to shake and her grin broadened as he took her hand. Out of the corner of his eye, Gar saw Jinx roll her eyes and mutter something. "My name is Kori Anders."

"Hi Kori." Garfield nodded.

"Come with me please, I'll show you around before introducing you to the patient you have been assigned. This is the dining hall, everyone comes here to eat, including staff, that's our table, you'll sit with us at lunch." She gestured to a large table in the corner of the room, the rest of the tables were smaller, seating only four or five. The space was open with large windows and altogether pleasant. Pictures hung on the walls and a fireplace was built into one of the walls, obviously there for the winter. "Moving on, this way…" Kori dragged Garfield further down the hall to another room. "And here we have the rec room!" The room was large and a large TV sat at one end with cushions and couches placed around it. There were some board games on tables on the other side of the room and some bookshelves with large chairs centered around them. No video games what so ever. In a corner of the room, a young man was reading, spiky black hair covered his head and his brown eyes were focused completely on the material in front of him.

Kori grinned and made her way over to him. "Richard, what are you reading?" The man looked up and smiled warmly.

"Kori, I'm just doing some research on Slade! I swear he won't get away this time." His brow furrowed and he turned back to the in his hands. Kori's smiled never faltered, though Garfield wasn't really sure what the hell was going on, seeing as the book Richard was reading was about horses and not… Slade.

"I'm glad that you have almost caught the master mind. When you do, you will let me know, yes?" Kori grinned as the man nodded. Turning she left him and hurried back over to Garfield. "That is one of our patients, Richard Grayson. He was hit over the head quite hard a few years ago and no he thinks he's a cop. He is, of course, one of our more minor cases." She grinned once again. "He is very nice though, you should try to get to know him now that you are working here."

Continuing with the tour, Kori showed Garfield the different floors and taught him the different names of people they ran into and the rules of the place. It was noon by the time she had finished, and Garfield was sure he would never be able to find his way around. There were so many floors and so many winding hallways; he would be lost the instant Kori left his side. Checking her watch, Kori smiled.

"It looks like lunch time, I will introduce you to your charge after we eat." Garfield nodded, food sounded good, he was usually hungry, but all this new information had him starving.

Lunch was decent enough, lukewarm pasta and salad, chicken had also been offered, though Garfield couldn't bring himself to touch. He had once had a pet chicken… The other staff members he met were nice too, a woman named Bee, a few other nurses like Kori, one including her sister who seemed to like to talk a lot. Sighing, Garfield checked his wristwatch as he followed Kori obediently down the hall. It was 12:30 P.M and he had promised to stay till at least three, everyday to earn his community service. Kori led him along the third floor passageway to the end of the hall, to the final door. Though there were other rooms, Garfield noticed that they all had the sign 'vacant' except the one they stood in front of now. Kori stopped and turned to her companion.

"I wish you good luck, I realize that you don't have the easiest person to look out for, but I believe that she is the one who truly needs the attention." Garfield shrugged and accepted the key and folder Kori offered him. Smiling, Kori gave him a final nod before skipping off down the hall.

Garfield stared at the key for a moment, wondering what kind of person awaited him on the other side of the door. Someone who babbled nonsense? Garfield prepared himself for the worst as he slipped the key into the lock and pushed open the door, closing his eyes. When no sound greeted him, he peaked out of one eye and was surprised by what he found. The room was normal, white like the rest of the building, but still normal. A bed was set against the wall in a corner and a small shelf full of books was placed next to it. A single chair was at the foot of the bed, and the only window in the room was blocked by its shade, which had been pulled down.

What caught Garfield's interest though was the occupant of the room, a girl who looked roughly two or three years older than him. Her short, purplish hair brushed her shoulders, and instead of babbling incoherently, she sat quiet and still, not even glancing up as Garfield entered the room. For the first time, Garfield flipped open the folder he had been given. The picture was that of the girl in front of him, maybe a year or two younger than she was now. Next to the picture was her name: _Raven_. No last name followed.

Looking back up, Garfield shifted uncomfortably; it would have been a lot easier if Raven noticed him instead of just sitting there. Clearing his throat uncertainly he spoke up. "Um, Raven?" no answer. "Hi, I'm Garfield, I was told I'm going to be working with you for a while. You see I'm doing community service…"

"Do you want an award?" A harsh voice interrupted him as the girl looked up at him, her striking purple eyes cold and uncaring.

"Uh, what?" Garfield stammered nervously.

Raven glared at him. "What? Do expect a prize for being here, for helping me? I don't need your help."

"Umm, well, no, I don't expect a prize, I just need to do community service and they assigned me here, they said to help you with your… umm…"

Raven scoffed. "Go ahead, say it. I know, problems, right? That's what everybody else says. Everybody else who has tried to 'help me'."

Garfield blinked. She was so blunt, so cold. How was he supposed to do this, work with her when it was obvious she wasn't the slightest bit interested in him?

Raven gazed at him coldly, "Why don't you leave now."

"I can't, I have to stay till three."

"Then go 'help' someone else, I'm not interested."

Anger flared within Garfield. He hadn't done anything to Raven and she was biting his head off for no reason. "Look, I can't do that, this is where I was put and you are just going to have to get used to it. Eight weeks of community service is all I need, and then I'll be gone okay?" He growled. Raven didn't even flinch; she just continued to glare at him, purple eyes narrowed.

Garfield waited for a moment taking a deep breath, he needed to calm down, and it probably wasn't Raven's fault that she had a bad attitude, it was probably just something that landed her here. He closed his eyes for a minute as he thought. What did people do when they were faced with someone like this? "Would you like to play a game, cards, a board game?" The thought seemed good to him, he had seen movies and read stories about people looking after mental health patients, and they had always included games. Maybe Raven would like that.

"No." Her cold voice cut through him, slicing harshly. Her glare had narrowed even more, Garfield had always though the old expression '_if looks could kill, I'd be dead'_ was exaggerated until now. The way Raven was looking at him was extremely frightening. Gulping nervously, he searched his brain for something else. Reading? Raven looked like a person who might like books.

"How about I read to you?" he asked. Raven's expression charged immediately. It went from a glare to disbelief, hurt and finally anger in less then a second. She rose and, though she was about an inch or so shorter than Garfield, she seemed to tower over him.

"Get out." She hissed. "Now. I am perfectly able to read on my own. I don't need help." She growled as Garfield groped for the doorknob behind him, terrified. "I can read perfectly well on my own. Leave."

To Garfield, Raven was insane. All he had wanted to do was try and make her feel better, but she was throwing a fit because of it!

Garfield found his escape and quickly opened the door, slipped out and slammed in behind him. He walked down the hall as quickly as he could and sighed as he turned the corner. He spotted Kori walking down toward the elevator and quickly hurried over to her.

"Kori!" the nurse looked up. "Raven's throwing a fit or something. I asked her a question and she went berserk!" Kori's brow furrowed.

"Thank you, I shall go a check on her, I think you've had enough for today, why don't you head home now." Garfield nodded as Kori scurried off. "Oh and remember to check out with Jinx before you go!" she called over her shoulder.

X

The pink haired woman raised an eyebrow as she saw Garfield. "Had enough already?"

"No, but Kori says I should go home, Raven got mad." Jinx scoffed.

"I don't doubt that. So you will be back tomorrow?" Garfield nodded. "Good. Here." She handed him a scrap of paper with some numbers scribbled down. "It's the code for the gate. Memorize it, or you'll be very sorry when you lose that scrap." Jinx warned him before she turned back to the computer. "I'll open the gate for you on your way out." Jinx mumbled as he left.

Garfield hurried down the street toward his home, caught up in his thoughts. What had been up with Raven? She had flipped out for no reason? Did she have anger issues? Was something wrong with her? 'Well, obviously something was wrong with her,' Garfield told himself. 'She's in an asylum, why else would she be there?' Garfield had his doubts about returning tomorrow, it seemed like his 'assignment' now hated his guts, and just because he had offered to read, maybe she didn't like books. But it wasn't just that, the first time she had spoken her voice had been full of hatred. Shrugging, Garfield concluded to simply grin and bare it, he only had to deal with it for eight weeks and then he could get out of there and never have to see Raven again.

X

Garfield stared in concentration at the keypad. Was it 2265897 or 22565879? Maybe 22586997? Or maybe had memorized it backwards and it was really 9785622. Slumping against the wall he groaned. Jinx had told him to come right at nine and he had dragged himself out of bed an hour early simply to now be locked out. Life was cruel to Garfield Logan.

"Locked out? He turned to see Kori grinning at him, as she walked through the parking lot toward him.

"I could be, or maybe I'm just resting." He defended himself quickly.

Kori rolled her eyes and went to unlock the gate; Garfield watched the numbers she entered, 2265789. "I knew it was something like that." He mumbled. Kori laughed as the gate opened and the two walked in together.

"So, uh, you think I'll be okay with Raven? I mean, she got pretty mad at me yesterday. Maybe it would be better for us both if I worked with someone else?" Garfield asked, half hoping that Kori would agree and switch his duties.

"I think that you two just got off to a rocky start. As I said yesterday, Raven is complicated, she first came here when she was much younger, I think she was around fifteen. No one knows a lot about her, her past or anything like that. I believe it is a good idea for you to continue with her, if not to simply discover more about her."

"Big chance of that happening." Garfield murmured as the two entered the building, but Kori did not hear him, she had already disappeared.

Sighing, Garfield nodded to Jinx as he walked past her to the elevator. He waited tensely for the car to reach the main floor before he popped in and punched the button for the third floor. What would Raven do today? Kill him? He shuddered at the thought of spending the whole day with her; a mere five minutes had ended disastrously. The elevator dinged, announcing that the third floor was on the other side of the doors, and as they opened, Garfield took a deep breath and stepped out. As the doors closed behind him, he couldn't help the feeling of dread that sunk into his stomach. The hall seemed to stretch forever, making his nervousness increase with every step he took. Finally reaching his destination, he took a deep breath before fishing the key out of his pocket and fit it into the lock.

He was about to open the door, but something struck him, would he want someone simply bursting into his room? No matter how messed up Raven was, he should respect her privacy. Gently, he rapped at her door. Nothing. No answer. He knocked again. And again no answer came back to him. Maybe she was out, downstairs in the rec room or out on the grounds? Still he should check here.

"Raven?" he called softly. "Raven, are you there? I'm going to come in okay?" still no reply, no snide remark came.

Sighing, he pushed the door open, expecting to see an empty room, and preparing himself go running around to find his missing charge. But, as it turned out, Raven was there. She sat in the same chair as she had yesterday. She stared blankly ahead, seemingly oblivious to everything else in the room. A book lay in her lap, opened to what looked like the middle, and a black feather lay in between the pages. Garfield studied her, the way she sat hunched over made her look smaller than she actually was, her rare purple eyes had a tone of sadness to the, one that Gar hadn't picked up on yesterday when he had first met her.

"Raven?" he spoke quietly, trying to gain her attention without startling her. Though she didn't respond, he noticed that her eyes had focused and now were gazing at him. "Hi?" he spoke nervously, unsure of what might set her off.

He watched as she straightened from her slumped position and tucked a lose piece of hair behind her ear. "Why are you here?" she snapped though she didn't really seem angry, more annoyed then anything else.

"I told you yesterday, I have eight weeks of community service to do, and here is where I'm going to spend them." He said firmly. He watched Raven's expression; she had turned simply her head to face him, her eyes were narrowed ever so slightly, in a half glare but there was something else that Garfield couldn't quite recognize, some emotion that he had never seen before.

"Fine." Raven growled before her head lowered back to her book and she continued to read. "I don't care if you stay, but like I said yesterday, I don't need any of that 'help' you have to offer." Garfield shrugged.

"As long as I get my hours, I'm happy." He crossed the room and flopped down on Raven's bed. "What are you reading?"

"Something that I don't need you to read to me." Raven snapped, sending a glare in his direction.

Garfield lifted his hands in defense. "Okay, okay. I just wanted to know." He leaned his head back against the wall. Sooo bored. What was he supposed to do, just sit here and wait till three? Maybe he could convince Raven to go outside so her could get some fresh air, or at least she could raise her shade and open the window.

"Why don't you open your window, Raven. It's a nice day out…" he stood and began to move toward the window when he heard the book Raven was reading drop to the floor.

"Don't, leave it closed." She growled as she watched him.

"Come on, we'll just raise the shade and get some natural light in here." he wheedled with her as he fingered the material.

"No!" Raven lunged forward to stop him, but when she had nearly reached him she hesitated, hand out stretched as if to stop him, but not quite touching him. Garfield had let go of the shade at her shout but still stood next to the window. He watched her, the beautiful purple eyes almost fearful as she stared at him.

"Don't open it." She snapped as she again moved forward finally to block the window from him as he moved away.

"Okay Raven, chill." He moved back to his spot on the bed and sat down. She watched him with reproachful eyes before moving back to her seat and retrieving the fallen book.

"I don't se why you have to be here." Raven sighed unhappily as she brushed off her book carefully. "I don't need company, I don't need 'help', I just want to be alone." She murmured softly. "I never asked for someone to be here." Garfield said nothing, her voice seemed so… sad. He wasn't sure what was really going on, but he it seemed that there was more to the situation than he had originally thought. Sighing, he once more leaned his head back against the wall as Raven returned to her book and he silently counted the seconds until lunch.

_To be continued…_

There we go, finished. Chapter six of Blue Bird will be coming out soon, Saturday at the very latest. I want to know what everyone thought of this so please remember to review. Thank you!

cookiesandmilk


	2. Growing

AN: Hi guys, sorry about the lack in updating, especially on Blue Bird, which will get updated soon, I don't know exactly when since I'm getting into that last minute summer work crunch, but I swear I will update it. I have some new story ideas that I probably will start after I've finished Blue Bird and this, so be sure to check them out when they get posted.

Disclaimer: maybe in my dreams…

Growing

'Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock…" The clock above Raven's door counted away the seconds of time the two sat in silence. Raven simply read, turning a page every minute or so, Garfield was surprised at her speed, when he read it took a lot longer, mostly because he was usually distracted. Garfield sighed for about the fourth time and turned his gaze to Raven once more. He was here for a reason and that was to make Raven happy. Offering to read or play a game hadn't worked, and Raven seemed content to simply stay quiet and read. Maybe a joke would lighten her up?

"Hey Raven, you want to hear a joke?"

No reply.

"It's a good one."

Nothing.

"Okay, I'll tell you…"

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" It was no more than a whisper, but Garfield heard it.

"I told you already, I have-"

"Community Service." Raven growled and she looked up for the first time. "Go help someone who wants the 'help'. I don't need it." Her voice tapered off into a whisper, sad, almost lonely.

"But I-"

"I don't want you here."

Garfield groaned and resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall. What was he doing wrong? Why couldn't she just smile, or act like a normal person, recognize he was trying to help her? The clock read fifteen minutes to twelve, fifteen more minutes until he could disappear down to lunch, before he could escape the empty silence that held him captive. Slowly the seconds ticked by, every hour a minute passed by. This was one of the longest days Garfield had ever experienced and it wasn't even noon. His eyes followed the second hand, nearly there, nearly there… yes!

Garfield stood up and stretched. "Time for lunch." He started toward the door before pausing and glancing back at Raven. "Hey, aren't you hungry?" The girl didn't reply. Gar shrugged and assumed that Raven would come down later. He hadn't expected her to actually walk with him to lunch, but he had tried.

"Right, I'll see you soon then." Garfield opened the door and walked down the hall toward the elevator.

X

Garfield absentmindedly picked at his food. He wasn't really hungry having eaten a large breakfast and doing nothing that day to have worked up an appetite. Glancing around the room he watched as people filled the room, sitting down at different tables, some talking; to themselves or their tablemates Garfield wasn't exactly sure of. He saw all of the people he had met so far, all but Raven.

Turning to his right he looked at Kori who was attacking the salad with great intensity. "Kori?" he ventured softly.

Stopping from her feast Kori turned her attention the student. "Yes Garfield?"

"Umm, I told Raven that I was going to lunch and I offered for her to come, but when she wouldn't I thought she would just come down later, but lunch is almost over and Raven isn't here yet. Isn't that bad?"

Kori shook her head rather sadly. "No, Raven doesn't come down to eat, we usually bring food to her. In fact, Raven almost never comes out of her room. We just let her be, as long as she's comfortable it's okay. When she first came here, we tried to bring her out a bit more, but she would have none of it." Kori spoke quietly. Garfield was surprised. Sure, he hadn't seen Raven leave her room before, but he had just assumed that she hadn't wanted to go out, or was tired. But to never leave her room? That was certainly.

"Before you go back to Raven's room, head over to the kitchen and ask for Raven's lunch. Bring it up to her so she can eat." Kori said as she rose; her plate empty and clean, a surprising fact seeing that Kori had gotten a lot to eat. Garfield nodded and pushed his chair back and stretched before he stood.

"Hey, Logan!" Garfield turned and saw Jinx beckoning him from the reception desk. "I have a job for you, after you bring Raven lunch come back down." Garfield nodded and swept by the kitchen grabbing the tray the cooks gave him. Finally he would have something to do besides sit in that small room; lit only by florescent lights and harbored the quiet, dark girl.

Knocking on the door, Garfield slipped in and found Raven in the place he had left her. The book she had been reading was on the floor, the black feather placed at the end of it. "Finished your book?" He asked quietly before handing her the tray. She took it without a 'Thank you'. "I'm going to be downstairs for a while, I'll be back later though." He paused before he left the room, watching Raven take a sip of the drink he had carried her. Shaking his head, Garfield stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him. It shut with a click and Garfield started back down to the elevator, wondering what job Jinx had for him.

X

"Damn her." Garfield growled as soon as the pink haired receptionist had left him. He was in a large back room, full of cabinets, boxes and some scattered paper. 'Just check through the files and make sure they're all in alphabetic order, oh and those boxes, go through them and put the papers in the files of the people the belong to.' Jinx had explained as she unlocked the door for him. The job hadn't sounded to hard before he saw the room. But now he was here and the job seemed impossible.

Taking a deep breath he set to work with the boxes, opening on he grabbed a piece of paper and checked the name on it, and pulled open the cabinet labeled 'S'. Disorder. To the extremes. In the cabinet there weren't 'S' files, there were 'B', 'F' and even some 'Z's. Garfield came to the conclusion that the only thing messier than this back room would probably his own bedroom room. With a sigh, Garfield dropped the papers in his hand and turned his attention to the cabinets. He started at the 'A' cabinet, working his way down the line, dropping everything into its rightfully place. At long last, about two hours he had started, Garfield had finished. Sighing happily, he wiped the sweat off his brow and turned to leave, planning to snap at Jinx as he went by on his way back to Raven's room, when he heard paper flutter. Turning with a growl Garfield searched the room with a sweep of his eyes, looking for the person stupid enough to mess up what he had just finished organizing. Instead, all he found was a couple of sheets of paper, stapled together and looking rather worn out. Grumbling about disorder, Garfield bent to grab the papers and turned the over to find the name when he stopped. '_Roth, Raven_' Garfield stared at the name. Raven? None of the papers he had been working through before had anything to do with her, and now, these four sheets right in front of him were about her.

_'I probably shouldn't read them… Probably things I'm not supposed to know, but… it could help me deal with her if I knew a little more about her… right?'_ Garfield battled with himself for a minute before his curiosity won over.

X

Victor Stone smiled as he bent down to the young girl and produced a sticker and a lollypop. "These for being such a good girl while you got your shot." The little girl gave him a slightly tearful grin, as she opened her single free hand, the other one clutching a large teddy bear, and accepted the two small prizes.

"Thank you Dr. Stone." She mumbled as she tottered away. Shaking head with a smirk, he stood and waved goodbye to the small family.

He headed back into his private office and yawned as he took a seat. It had been long day and he was ready for his break. A soft knock came at the door before it opened to reveal a young woman, a white lab coat folded over her dark arm, and a broad smile on her beautiful face.

"Hey Sparky, you ready to hit the road?" She asked as she sauntered in.

"Almost, I still have a little paperwork to finish, and then we can leave. How was your day?"

Bee shrugged and she took a seat on Victor's desk. "Not bad, a lot of patients though." She picked up a marble and tossed it casually into the air, eye's following its path. "My lunch break got interrupted three different times, but hey, that's what we're here for right?" She winked at him before gently placing the marble back down in its place.

"Yeah, I suppose that's right." Victor responded, another smile appearing on his face. The ringing of the phone interrupted the two's comfortable silence and Bee grumbled softly as she answered it.

"Hello, Dr. Stones office." She murmured, feet swinging back and forth casually. She listened for a moment before handing Victor the receiver with a shrug. "It's for you."

"Surprise, surprise." He laughed as he accepted it from his girlfriend. "Hello, Dr. Stone speaking."

"Dr. Stone?" The voice of his secretary Terra floated to him, annoyed and huffy. Victor could just picture the crabby blonde doing her nails and being interrupted by some poor patient disrupting her at the time. "Yeah, there's some guy on the phone blabbering about needing to talk you, his names Garfield Logan, shall I connect you?" she drawled.

"Yeah sure." Victor sighed.

There was a click as Terra switched him to line one and then a beep. "This is Dr. Stone, how can a help you?"

There was a pause before a voice answered him; slightly unsure and so quiet it was hard to make out. "Dr Stone. Hi, my name's Garfield Logan. I'm doing community service at the Jump City Mental Health Home, and I'm working with Raven, Raven Roth." There was a long pause before Victor spoke.

"Raven huh? How is she doing? I haven't seen her for a while."

"She's… well…umm… closed off, quiet, and I suppose the way you've known her." Victor sighed.

"She wasn't always that way. Anyway, how can I help you Garfield?"

"Well, I read that report you wrote up for her, and… is that all… true?"

Victor leaned back in his chair and rubbed one of his temples with his free hand. "True? Yes, it's all true. Raven's mother was an addict and her father a convict. Neither one ever really wanted her, she was often alone as a child and her only comfort were the books her mother had owned as a child and had been saved in the small attic. I suppose Raven taught herself to read, because she her parents never had the time. When she was five, her mother had an overdose and died from it. Raven was left in the care of her father, a man who was dangerous and was soon caught and arrested. She was moved to an orphanage. When Raven started school, she was so withdrawn already that none of the other children accepted her. As years went on Raven simply withdrew from everybody, the very few people she let get close to her and those who she began to open up to ended up hurting her and emotionally scarring her even more." He past a single hand over his eyes as he paused in his story. Bee shot him a sad glance as she rose and gave him a light hug around the neck. "When Raven was a year from finishing high school, one of the teachers recommended that she be placed in therapy, and when she was, no one could get anything out of her. So they assumed she was crazy and placed her where she is now as soon as she finished her senior year."

Victor shook his head sadly. Garfield was silent for a minute before he spoke up again. "That's… horrible."

X

Garfield lay on his bed, staring at his ceiling and tracing the cracks in the paint with his eyes. It was already 1 a.m., but Garfield wasn't tired. It had been twelve hours since he had read the report on Raven, twelve hours since he had called Victor Stone, Raven's doctor, and had learned about her horrible past. He couldn't get the feeling of sadness and remorse out of his gut. His mind kept straying back to Raven, staying in her tiny room all day. Never opening her shade, afraid to see what she might be missing on the outside. The image of the small shelf of books that she kept, he had already realized that she was a fast reader, how must it feel to read the same books over and over again, never getting anything new, always the same things as before? And then, people supposing she was crazy, insane, when all she really was, was a misunderstood, mistreated girl. Alone.

Before his own parents had died, they had supported him, been with him and cheered him on when he was having trouble with friends or school. They had been there whenever he needed them and it had been horrible to lose them. But he could not imagine living at least at one time without loving parents. Raven hadn't had anything of the sort. Her parent's hadn't given a damn about her. She was afraid to get close to people because of the abuse she had suffered. And he had… he had gotten mad at her; he had been no better than anybody else. Not giving her the chance she needed.

Garfield rolled over on his side and sighed. He was going to change that. In the eight weeks he was there he was going to help Raven, how he wasn't quite sure, but he was going to. Raven didn't deserve to be stuck there, she deserved a fair chance at life and that was what he, Garfield Logan, was going to give her. He was going to bring her out of her shell.

He pressed his nose against the window pane and searched the store. It was small and modest, but there were so many books! Checking his watch quickly, he decided he had enough time left and ducked into the store. He glanced around and slowly and traced his hand over the many different books, some used; torn. Others were brand new and portraying their titles proudly with gold lettering. Garfield stopped on a rather old book, the lettering fading, but the book itself was still in pretty good condition. He opened it and flipped through it quickly. From what he could gather, it was of the adventure and romance genre, and even the first book in an eight part series, as he read off the back.

Would Raven be interested in a book like this? It was worth a try, and today he could even check out the other books she had to see what she liked, then he would have a better idea.

Paying for the book, Garfield left the shop, wrapping the book up in a brown paper bag and tucking it into his backpack along with the other things he had brought. A chocolate bar, a small table light and shade decorated with floral designs his mother had made. He had even brought a small, stuffed dog he had treasured as a child and still did. Smiling, Gar stepped onto the bus and sat in one of the back seats. He still had a half hour before he was due, but for once he couldn't wait to arrive.

"Good morning Kori!" He chirped as he waved to the red headed nurse. The said girl glanced up from a book she was reading on her way up to the main entrance of the white building. She grinned as she saw him and quickly slipped the book into her shoulder bag.

"A good morning to you to!" she laughed as he caught up to her. "You seem to be in a very good mood today, any occasion?"

"Nope, but who couldn't be happy on a day like this?" It was true that day was quite beautiful, the air was warm and there was a single fluffy cloud floating through the sky, looking somewhat like a sheep. The day had affected his mood a lot, making him happy and hopeful about his plan. He would have liked to tell Kori about his plan to help Raven, but another part of him wanted to keep quiet about it. She might tell him that it was impossible, other people had tried and failed to do what he wanted to do, and that was not what Garfield wanted to hear. He decided it would be better to, for once, keep his mouth closed.

Jinx nodded as the two walked in, busy with someone on the phone, her tone irritated as she spoke to whomever was on the other end. "Look, I'm sorry, but for the last time we do not accept telemarketing. This is a Mental Health Home, we would love to give money toward your cause but we need it hear. Yes, I know it's a good cause but we just can't." Jinx snapped and rolled her eyes as Garfield laughed.

Raven was still in her chair another book lay open in her lap, though her attention was obviously not focused on it. Garfield watched her from the doorway, and was sure he caught an emotion that resembled sadness flicker within the depths of her amethyst eyes. Taking a deep breath strode forward and, reaching her, gently closed the book in her lap.

Raven's eyes flickered angrily up at him, they were cold and hard, Garfield almost backed down, but instead stayed firm and pulled the book from her grasp. "I was reading that." Raven growled as she stood, reaching out to claim the book from him but hesitating as her hand got close to him. "Give it back." Garfield watched her sadly, he hadn't noticed it before, but Raven was afraid to touch him, when she had paused to push him away from her window and now, as she reached for her book, she couldn't actually bring herself to touch him. It was her fear of people coming out. "Give it back." Raven snapped again, her hand outstretched waiting for him to give it back without having to get to close to him.

Smiling softly, he returned to book to her, and then reached into his backpack and pulled out the brown-paper wrapped book and gently pressed it into her hands. "You can have your book, but wouldn't you also like this?" Raven glanced from the parcel in her hands back to Garfield. An unreadable emotion flickered in her eyes for a moment before her hands tightened on the package and Garfield let go.  
Carefully, almost fearfully, she unfolded the bag and opened, letting the book slide into her hands. She started at it book looking up at Gar. "Why did you bring this?" Her tone was uncertain, and again it made him sad. When was the last time someone had given her something, a simple present or token?

"I noticed you didn't have many books, I thought you might like it." He grinned as he stepped past her. "I hope you like, I wasn't really sure what you were into." He bent down and examined her books, being careful not to touch them and only look.

For a moment there was silence between the two before a soft 'Thank you.' Was breathed into the air from Raven as she sat back down in her chair and flipped open the book to the first page.  
Glancing over his at Raven, Garfield couldn't help but grin. Though Raven's face hadn't changed all the much, a dim light had lit it ever so slightly and her eyes hungrily ate up the print on the page. He eased himself onto her bed and leaned against the wall, he had been right about the kind of books she liked, most of the few books she owned had been adventure or romance so he was doing all right so far. Sighing, he examined the room around him. It was white, nothing hung from the walls, no posters or pictures, just the simple clock that hung over her door, and the window that was never open. He looked at her bed, plain with white sheets, nothing out of the ordinary, nothing extra. He heard a small click and looked up to find Raven had closed the book.

"Finished already?" He raised an eyebrow as she looked up at him, surprise written on her features.

"No, but I want to save it, make it last." She glanced at him nervously and he smiled gently. "I haven't gotten a new book for a long time." Her voice was soft and she caressed the book gently with one hand. "I… well… thank you again…" she murmured, looking down at her feet as she shuffled the nervously. She seemed so unsure, and Garfield watched her carefully. There was something more to Raven, and the simple act of giving her a book had brought out a tiny part of that. Garfield felt a grin spread across his face.

"Hey, no problem…"

_To Be Continued…_

An: Well hope you all enjoyed the chapter, make sure you leave a review and tell me what you guys think! Thanksies!

-cookiesandmilk


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